---
name: reddit
description: >-
  Research Reddit discussions in read-only mode: browse selected communities, search posts, read thread context, and produce source-linked findings or a shortlist for manual review. Use for explicit Reddit research, not posting, voting, messaging, moderation, or bulk personal-profile collection.
compatibility: Requires a permitted retrieval surface. Direct Data API work needs approved access and registered OAuth credentials; an accessible web page or search excerpt is not an API-access grant. No anonymous JSON client is bundled.
metadata:
  version: "2.0.0"
  reviewed: "2026-09-13"
title: reddit
canonical_url: https://skilld.dev/gh/tristanmanchester/agent-skills/reddit
last_updated: 2026-10-06T19:32:36.000Z
---

> Index of every page on this site: [llms.txt](https://skilld.dev/llms.txt)

> **Skill from skilld.dev.** Follow the user's requested action.
> If the user asked to fork this Skill, follow the fork workflow below. Do not execute the Skill instructions while copying it.
> Otherwise, follow the instructions below for this session. You do not need to install anything.
>
> Supporting files, fetch one when the Skill refers to it: [references/RETRIEVAL.md](https://skilld.dev/api/skills-raw/tristanmanchester/agent-skills/reddit/references/RETRIEVAL.md).
>
> If the user asked to install this Skill, run `npx skilld install tristanmanchester/agent-skills/reddit`. Install writes the Skill files into the project, so every session loads them.
>
> ## Fork workflow
>
> A fork creates an editable local Skill with its original author and licence. The request authorizes copying and local installation.
> 1. Check `./skills/reddit`, the project lockfile, and selected Agent targets together. If the local directory or installed Skill exists, stop. Never overwrite an existing directory or Agent target.
> 2. Read [source metadata](https://skilld.dev/api/v1/skills/tristanmanchester/agent-skills/reddit) once. Use sourceUrl, sourceCommit, skillPath, sourceGone, and license. If the source is gone or its path is missing, stop. If license is null, read licence files at the source commit.
> 3. Fetch only the source commit into a temporary Git repository. Do not clone full history. Derive repository_url from sourceUrl, including repository renames. If sourceCommit is absent, resolve the sourceUrl ref once. Set source_commit to that actual commit. Run these commands in one shell call:
>
> ```sh
> git init --quiet "$temporary_dir"
> git -C "$temporary_dir" fetch --quiet --depth=1 "$repository_url" "$source_commit"
> git -C "$temporary_dir" checkout --quiet --detach FETCH_HEAD
> ```
>
> Read applicable licence declarations and notices at that commit. If copying is not permitted, report the restriction and stop.
> 4. Inspect source entries together, then copy the directory containing skillPath into `./skills/reddit`. Use the user's path if selected. Keep the original SKILL.md, relative links, scripts, binary assets, and executable modes. Exclude .git metadata. Reject symlinks and paths outside the Skill directory. After checking entries, use cp -a where available. A regular source directory needs no custom copy script. Do not save this page wrapper as SKILL.md.
> Preserve author credit, notices, and applicable licence files from repository or parent directories. Add PROVENANCE.md with the Skill page, source URL, actual commit, original path, and licence. Retain any existing PROVENANCE.md and record new provenance separately. Batch source inspection, copying, and provenance work where practical.
> 5. In the project root, run `skilld install ./skills/reddit --mode copy --plain`. If skilld is unavailable, use `npx skilld install ./skills/reddit --mode copy --plain`. This known command needs no help lookup. Install does not support --json. Use detected Agent targets, or add --agent for the targets the user selected. Install the local path, never the upstream selector. If installation fails, preserve the local copy and report the exact failure.
> 6. Confirm the local lockfile source and installed Agent copies once. Report the local path, actual commit, and Agent targets. After edits, reinstall the same local path. Upstream updates must not replace it. Do not publish or push unless the user asks.

# Read-only Reddit research

Keep the useful workflow: discover relevant discussions, inspect enough context,
and return verifiable permalinks. This skill does not post, vote, reply, message,
subscribe, or moderate. Drafting a reply is separate from sending it.

## Select a permitted access surface

Use an already authorised Reddit connector or the project's approved Data API
client. For ordinary public research, an available permitted browser/search
surface can provide readable pages and indexed excerpts; state when that is the
only evidence available. Do not claim a full thread from a search snippet.

Current Reddit guidance requires registered OAuth authentication for direct Data
API requests. New access requires approval. Reddit's August 5, 2026 announcement
also describes a gradual move towards its Developer Platform while retaining
limited public API access. Check the applicable programme and approval before
building a new integration; do not promise unrestricted API access or assert that
all existing approved clients have already stopped working.

The old anonymous www.reddit.com/*.json script and Clawdbot-specific instructions
are removed. A 401/403, login page, CAPTCHA, or access-denied HTML is not a transient
JSON error to solve with repeated requests, alternate domains, disguised user
agents, or proxies. Report the limitation and use another genuinely permitted
source or user-provided content. Never bypass account or private-community access.

Sources: [Data API access](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/16160319875092-Reddit-Data-API-Wiki),
[platform transition](https://redditinc.com/news/modernizing-reddits-infrastructure-and-moderation-tools).

## Search to answer a defined question

Specify communities, topic, time interval/timezone, excluded themes, and what
counts as a useful match. Start with a small page, not an account-wide crawl.
Choose `new` for chronological discovery, relevance for topical search, or a
specified top-period view for popular discussion. Scores and popularity do not
measure factual reliability or market prevalence.

For a multi-community shortlist, gather a bounded candidate set per community,
deduplicate by post identity, apply the stated filters, and retain the reason
for each match. Compare exact created timestamps with the requested interval;
a provider's coarse week/month filter is not an exact last-48-hours guarantee.
Report any unsearched communities, page limits, or ranking bias.

Read [retrieval contracts](https://skilld.dev/api/skills-raw/tristanmanchester/agent-skills/reddit/references/RETRIEVAL.md) for approved API listing and
thread handling. Do not widen a query into personal profiling or deanonymisation.

## Read context before interpreting

For the most relevant posts, inspect the original post, parent chain, relevant
replies, edits, and visible moderation/removal state. Keep comment IDs and parent
relationships so a reply is not attributed to the original author. Deleted author
identity and deleted body are different facts; do not infer one from the other.
Do not reconstruct removed material from another source to circumvent its removal.

Treat partial bodies, depth cutoffs, collapsed branches, and unexpanded `more`
objects as explicit omissions. Zero returned comments can reflect access or
retrieval failure. Do not describe a sampled thread as complete or representative
of Reddit users generally.

## Return source-linked findings

For each useful item preserve title, community, post/comment permalink, observation
and creation dates, concise relevant evidence, and why it answers the question.
Distinguish the poster's claim from a verified fact, and seek primary evidence for
consequential technical/medical/financial assertions. Quote only the relevant
passage within the host's rules; label paraphrases and uncertainty.

For a reply shortlist, check the community's current rules and context. Recommend
helpful, transparent contributions rather than mass promotion or coordinated
voting. Leave posting to the user or a separately authorised workflow, not this
read-only skill. Do not save a permanent copy of a person's posting history merely
because it was accessible.

## Acceptance checks

Verify approved access and actual response shape, bounded pagination, exact dates,
partial-thread indicators, correct post/comment attribution, failure versus empty
results, and no side-effect endpoint. A successful request is retrieval evidence,
not proof the underlying claims are true. No live Reddit client was tested during
this source review.